Book of Luke (Book 2) (14 page)

“December 31st,” I echoed into the phone.
After a brief moment I said, “Dad? What are you doing?”

“I’m doing a background check, just to make
sure everything’s okay! The computer’s thinking, it should come up
in a minute.”

“
Dad!”
I scorned. “Are you serious?!
It’s like five in the morning there, you’re running background
checks on some random guy I met?”

Luke’s grin grew, and he pulled me into his
chest. “Tell him I’m watching over you,” he breathed in my ear.

I covered the mouthpiece. “He’s probably
running one on you, too.”

“Oh my God!” Dad screamed frantically. “Oh
my God!”

“Daddy? What’s wrong?”

“This boy has had
two
run-ins with
the law! Did you hear me?
Two!
This is why I like to
check!”

“Really?” I asked, stunned.

“
Two,”
Dad confirmed.

“What did he do?” I pondered, my heart
beginning to race. And to think I’d gone out in the middle of
nowhere
alone
with this guy!

“Hold on, sweetie, it’s pulling it up.”
Brief silence.

The suspense was
killing
me!

“It says here he’d been fined for
jaywalking.
Twice.
So he doesn’t even learn the first time,
he’s a repeat offender!”

“
Jaywalking!”

Luke laughed.

Facepalm. I heaved a sigh. “Dad, you’re
going to judge him for crossing the street?! Maybe he was in a
hurry and couldn’t reach a crosswalk.”

“
Twice?
” Dad growled.

I rolled my eyes. “I should go now,
Dad.”

“I’ll call you later,” Dad said. “And
sweetie?”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Try to stay away from this Troy guy. I mean
Luke’s bad enough, but at least he doesn’t have a rap sheet.”

“Dad, he was crossing the street! That’s not
a rap sheet!”

“It is if it’s on here, Adonia!”

“Dad, he’s a really good friend of Luke’s.
I’m not going to give him the cold shoulder because you found out
he
jaywalked
.”

Dad sighed. “Fine. But use your best
judgement.” Brief pause. “I wonder if the Swiss have a website I
can run a background check on. Just to be sure.”

“Bye, Dad,” I said, and hung up. I was still
wrapped in Luke’s arms, and he kissed the top of my head.

“Did he scare you with Troy’s
criminal
record?”

“I don’t know
what
to do with my dad
anymore! He’s out of his mind!”

Luke’s finger touched my lips. “He’s just
looking out for you.”

“I can take care of myself,” I said,
clutching his hand.

Luke kissed me again. Then he pulled me into
the jewelry store.

It smelled like rose petals inside. The
place was dimly lit, which made it quite romantic. We were the only
customers in there. A petite brunette in her late twenties smiled
at us from behind the counter.

“Hi,” Luke said as she tried not to check
him out.

She smiled and cleared her throat. “Are you
looking for something in particular?” she asked through a heavy
French accent.

“Yeah, I’m looking for a gift for my
mom.”

She smiled and walked toward a case by the
window. In it were dozens of necklaces, some with “mom” pendants.
“Do you like these?”

He looked them over, and pointed to a gold
necklace with a deep pinkish-purple stone. “Is that real?”

The lady pulled it out for him. “It is, it’s
24-karat gold and pink tourmaline,” she said, pointing to the raw
stone. For a rock on a chain, it was gorgeous! She looked at him
through her lashes. “For your girlfriend?”

He looked from the necklace to her. “No,
it’s for my sister, actually.”

The lady smiled. “You don’t look like
kin.”

Luke looked at me, grinned and shook his
head. “We’re not.
This
is my girlfriend, but I think my
sister would like this necklace.”

“His sister looks like Barbie,” I noted,
because my silence began feeling awkward.

“Wow,” the lady said. “She must be really
pretty!”

I nodded. “Thankfully Luke here is related
to her!”

The lady laughed, and Luke turned rosy.
“I’ll take that necklace,” he said, browsing the others. He pointed
to a white gold necklace with a double heart pendant. “I’d like
that one for my mom.”

The lady neatly packaged up each necklace in
a red and white gift box, but Luke wasn’t done yet. “I’d like this
aquamarine one for my cousin,” he said, pointing to a white gold
necklace with a letter
N
pendant. The lady boxed that one
up, too.

“Did you want the total in Swiss Francs or
U.S. dollars?” she asked, eyeing him.

“Just convert it to dollars,” he said. “I’ll
pay with Visa debit.”

The lady pulled out a calculator.

When I next looked to him, Luke was staring
at me. I didn’t know if I’d missed something, so I said,
“What?”

He cocked his head. “Do you like
anything?”

“No!” I said, maybe too quickly. I didn’t
want him thinking I expected anything.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the
jewelry case. “Nothing at all?”

I bit my tongue and shook my head. Unsure
what he was thinking—or what he wanted me to say—I felt
nervous.

And
awkward.

The lady rung him up. “It comes to $880.75,
please.”

“Oh,” he said, digging into his back pocket.
“I wasn’t done yet.”

Her eyes widened in such a way that I knew
then and there she was getting paid commission.

“But here,” he said, handing her his
card.

My phone vibrated, and I looked to Luke.
“Mind if I step out and get this?”

He looked at me over his shoulder. “Sure,”
he breathed, with a sexy smile. “Whatever you want.”

Once out in the breezy open, I hit the
talk
button. “Hey.”

“It’s me,” Lilly said.

“Why do you sound unhappy?”

“Why do you think? Gino’s mom is ecstatic. I
told you, right?”

“This morning.”

“She is so excited she bought me a pregnancy
and childbirth book, and I’m just saying—from the disturbing crap I
saw and read in it—I may have to adopt.” She groaned. “The stuff
they showed in health class was
nothing
compared to
that!”

“So you need therapy?”

“I think I’ve needed therapy for a while
before this,” she admitted. “Maybe since I found out you’re
sleeping with my brother.”

“Look,” I said, “all you’ve gotta do is tell
Gino the truth! He’ll take care of things with his mom in a
sensitive way.”

“Yeah, that’s part of the problem, I’m too
scared to tell him, because
he might dump me
.”

“Can I ask you a question? How much do you
love this guy?”

She sucked her teeth. “A lot.”

“You seem really hooked on Mr. Incredible,”
I noted.

“Yeah, he’s
hot
. You love Lukasz and
I know you won’t deny that guy’s hot, either. But what does some
guy who lives in the Alps that I’ll probably never even
meet
have to do with me and Gino? Can we stay on topic?”

“Actually—”

I jumped. “Luke! How long have you been
standing there?”

He shrugged, glancing at my phone. “Long
enough.” He smiled. “Why?”

“Just wondering…”…
how much you
heard.

“Gino made dinner reservations for Thursday
night,” Lilly said. “I guess I’ll tell him then. He said we can
double and I’m bringing you and Anna—I really need the emotional
support when I do it!”

“That works for me,” I said.

“Hopefully if you’re there, he won’t dump
me. I’m so scared, my stomach hurts when I even think about
it.”

“I know that feeling,” I muttered.

“I’m sure you do.” She heaved a sigh. “Did
you get more pictures of that guy?”

“No, he went to work.”

“Where does he work?”

“He works at a gift shop.”

“Do they have
male models
working at
all
the gift shops there?”

I laughed. “No. I was just in a jewelry
shop, and there were no male models working there.”

Luke cocked his head and smiled. “Weirdos,”
he teased.

I slapped his arm playfully.

“Well, I better go! Catch you later,” Lilly
said.

“Of course,” I breathed, and hung up.

For dinner, Luke took me to a mountain-top
gourmet restaurant with a dress code, wall-sized windows, and a
spectacular
view.

What little section of wall
wasn’t
windows was covered in stone. The floor was a reflective black
marble and several large crystal chandeliers circled the
restaurant. We sat at a small marble table in one corner.

Luke wore a black suit, tie, and a white
shirt, and I wore a velvety red dress and heels. He looked
gorgeous, and I was feeling pretty good about myself, too.

“Can I get you something to drink,
mademoiselle?” asked a super-hot, our-age, dark-haired, blue-eyed
waiter in a black and silver tux. He grabbed my hand, and—to my
surprise and absolute delight—started making love to it.

Seriously.

Not used to this kind of treatment from
insanely hot strangers, I simply gasped and gripped my heart.

“Hi, Andre,” Luke said with a grin.

“You know him, too?!” I shrieked,
stunned.

“This is Andre LeBlanc, a friend of
mine.”

Feeling awkward, I sunk in my seat a bit and
pulled my hand free from Andre’s mouth.

“Hi, Andre,” I said casually, like this
happens to me all the time. Although, in Switzerland, it sort of
does.

Andre sighed. “I didn’t get much of a
reaction,” he said to Luke.

“Nah, I stopped beating you up years
ago!”

Andre looked to me. “Don’t let the exotic
locale fool you, I’m a Franco-American. I came here to visit, met a
girl, and if I left I think she’d dump me.”

I giggled.

He looked to Luke. “So what would you like,
Lukasz?”

“For starters, I’d like your finest bottle
of wine, please, to share,” Luke said.

“Got it,” Andre said, jotting it down. “How
long are you in town for?”

Luke cleared his throat. “Actually, this is
our last night. We’re off to Zurich for my stepfather’s astronomy
seminar tomorrow.”

Andre pressed his lips. “Didn’t even ask me
to hang out, not offended.” He looked at me. “I’ll just hit on your
girlfriend.”

I grinned, glancing at Luke.

“I’ll be back with your wine,” Andre said,
winked at me and walked off.

When I found my voice, I said, “We’re having
wine
?”

“Don’t worry, the legal drinking age here is
sixteen.”

“Oh!” I said. “Okay then.”

“Is that okay?” Luke asked with a sexy
smile.

“Sure!” I said. “The only one who would care
is my dad.”

Luke grinned. “You look absolutely stunning
tonight.”

I blushed. “Thanks. You look amazing
yourself.”

He glanced towards the kitchen. “As amazing
as Andre?”

“No,” I said. “You’re way hotter.”

Luke raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yeah, you are still most definitely a Greek
god,” I said, feeling my cheeks burn.

He nodded, looking out the window
thoughtfully. Seeming so absorbed, after a while it began making me
nervous.

“Are you okay?” I breathed.

He rubbed his forehead. “I’m fine.”

“You look anxious.”

Andre returned with our wine and two large
glasses. He popped the cork, poured our drinks and grinned. “What
are you lovebirds ordering?”

“I’ll have the Chicken Cordon Bleu,” Luke
said. “Pumpkin swirl cake for dessert.”

Although it didn’t work out well for me last
time, I knew what Chicken Cordon Bleu was, so I said I’d have the
same.

“So how have you been?” Luke asked,
loosening his tie. “It’s been a while.”

“Good enough,” Andre said. “Getting
married.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “Really! That makes—”
He scratched his head. “That makes sense.”

“Yeah, she’s the one, no doubts.” He bit his
lip thoughtfully. “And if it turns out she’s not, she has a really
hot sister.”

Luke twisted his lips. “Well one of them’s
got to work out!”

Immediate nod. Then Andre said, “Did you
finish school?”

“We will in a few months,” Luke said,
gesturing to me.

“Nice.” Andre looked at me. “How’s he
treating you?”

“Wonderful!” I beamed.

Then they exchanged looks, and nods.
Lengthy, awkward nods.

“Nice catch. She’s beautiful,” Andre
breathed, eyeing me.

“That’s her name,” Luke said softly, an
irresistible look in his eyes. “Beautiful.”

Yeah, I could hardly believe they were
having this conversation myself.

Utter. Silence.

“Well, I will get out of your hair, man.
I’ll be back in a bit.”

Luke smiled. “Not too soon, I hope.”

Andre looked perplexed for a moment. Then he
left.

Luke sipped his wine, his gaze falling to my
hand.

“I’m sure glad I don’t have a sister!” I
said to break the silence.

Luke’s grin grew. “We like to kid
around.”

“I can tell.”

“You’re lucky you don’t have a sister—she’d
have a hell of a time competing with you.”

I thought maybe someone should come mop me
up off the floor, because I was freakin’
melting
.

And I thought to myself,

This guy’s totally getting some tonight!

“So what do you think about Lilly being
pregnant?” Luke asked, rubbing his chin.

I hesitated. “Well, you know, things
happen.”

He leaned back in his chair and sipped more
wine, looking at me intently. “That doesn’t answer my
question.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of his tone.
“What am I supposed to think?”

“Well, she’s your best friend and you never
talk about it,” he said with a smirk.